Green Eyes

Daisuke restrained his laughter at Kaoru's raspy vocals, which had literally developed over night. Takeru had spilled that his fifteenth birthday had just passed, so puberty was finally catching up with him and his towering height of 168cm.

"Stop laughing! It's not funny!" the teen tried, earning only more squeaks of amusement, "Ah…Daisuke…"

"Oh I'm sorry, it's just…hahahah!" Kaoru pouted at his schoolmate's laughter, "Hahah! Ah, it's cute!"

"…Really?" his cheeks warmed at his accuser's claim, "…Heh…well…-ah!"

"Hahahahaha! Oh gosh!" the teen exclaimed at the crack in Kaoru's voice, "Don't worry, Yasuhiko gave me so much crap when my voice changed, but it's cute. I bet it'll be interesting once it changes."

Luckily, their attention was soon turned from his voice soon to the announcement of their stop. Kaoru followed Daisuke off the bus and blushed as their fingers locked as he was led up the hill to the Izumi residence, where he'd been invited for dinner. His mother was expected to leave the hospital next week, though he'd probably still take up Missus' Izumi's offers for dinner; she was a great cook, even if Daisuke wasn't too fond of her talent.

"Aye!" Kaoru froze at green-eyed brunet who greeted them at the door. He held his arms open and Daisuke suddenly ran into them to share a warm hug. They briefly exchanged some words before his schoolmate looked back to Kaoru with falling features.

"U-uh…hey Seamus! Hey!...Uh…this is my friend, Kaoru! Kaoru, this is my cousin, Seamus!"

"Ah! Ha-ji-me-ma-shi-te!" Seamus sounded out, earning a warm smile from the addressee who politely bowed his head in greeting. He then said something and Daisuke hastily translated from what was explained to be English. Didn't sound anything like it, though…was that a…British accent, maybe? He had enough trouble understand English without the accent!

"Um…." Daisuke cleared his throat, "…Um, excuse me, Kaoru. I'll uh….I'll have my mom drive you home-"

Seamus interjected and Daisuke sighed at whatever he said.

"Hmm? Why can't I stay, Daisuke? Is everything okay?" he was cut off, however, by a grinning M. Izumi, who appeared from the kitchen with a platter of snacks. Kaoru gratefully took a handful of nuts while Seamus treated himself to some grapes. Daisuke was too tense to remove his hands from his lap.

"You okay, Da-oh…" Ms. Izumi seemed to catch on before Kaoru could, and she looked to the confused schoolmate sympathetically, "…Uh…Kaoru, this is…-oh Daisuke, why don't you just tell him? You two are good friends, aren't you?"

The teen sighed at this and lowly nodded.

"Kaoru, my cousin's my Ireland." he began, "….I'm part Irish."

Kaoru's jaw dropped at the voice that emitted from the teen's mouth, strange tones shaping familiar words in unfamiliar ways. He'd honestly had to translate the English he'd spoken because the accent was so strong.

"Wait, you know English?!" Kaoru exclaimed, "Why haven't you said anything?"

"Would you, soundin' like I do? I got bullied enough for being so short."

Again, a translation was necessary to decipher his accent, which Seamus explained was actually much thicker than how most people in Ireland spoke currently. Daisuke explained that his grandfather had been a diplomat in Northern Ireland, where people still speak the national language. Daisuke was also familiar with it because he'd spent summers learning it.

"That's why my username is 'Kite'. A Kite is actually an Irish bird, but I'm Irish on my dad's side, so..."

Kaoru hummed in realization. No wonder he avoided the game so ardently. He really had looked up to his father-or rather, had praised his roots up until this point.

"Well…uh…does Seamus know any Japanese?" Daisuke then turned to his cousin and urged him to practice while he was in the country.

"Oh….uh….Nice to meet you. My name is Seamus. I am twenty…-years old." Kaoru smiled at his elementary Japanese. He always found it adorable, especially when visitors from overseas spoke it. Hearing them inspired him to practice English, although he still wasn't very good.

"I will try English, yes? Patient, patient." Seamus warmly smiled at Kaoru's effort. Even though Daisuke and Seamus were only cousins, seeing them side by side, Kaoru could see his schoolmate's Irish roots with Seamus as a reference. It was also a bit of a relief to finally identify what exactly made Daisuke look somewhat different.